Cal. Supreme Court Appointment: Good Win for a Liu-ser

In a classic example of “what’s good for thee but not for me,” Berkeley law professor and former Obama Ninth Circuit nominee Goodwin Liu seems poised to accept an appointment to the California Supreme Court this month—even though that would violate his own radical advice to others to give up their coveted seats to underrepresented minorities. Liberal hypocrisy knows few limits, but this story just keeps getting more humorous with every chapter.

Last May, Liu’s nomination to the Ninth Circuit court was defeated when a bi-partisan Senate filibuster could not be broken and at least two Democratic senators indicated they would not vote for him. As Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley explained in a letter to President Obama, senators were particularly concerned with “his controversial writings and speeches; an activist judicial philosophy; his lack of judicial temperament; his troublesome testimony and lack of candor before the committee; and his limited experience.”

Had Liu received the Ninth Circuit appointment, he would have been the first Asian-American on that court. The result deeply disappointed left-leaning groups and Liu supporters, such as the American Constitution Society, who see diversity as an end in itself, at least when it supports their agendas (the same groups were happy to filibuster Miguel Estrada’s nomination during the previous administration, fearing the brilliant, conservative Hispanic lawyer might eventually be elevated to the High Court).

But unlike Estrada, who continues his distinguished legal practice, the much younger Liu apparently sought another judicial post where his crazy views would not be a handicap. Fellow traveler Governor Jerry Brown obliged by nominating Liu to the California Supreme Court a few weeks ago. Although Liu’s credentials from Stanford, Yale Law School, and a Rhodes Scholarship are impressive, the citizens of California have every reason to be concerned that his approach to law is little more than extreme liberal activism dressed up in legal-sounding methods.

As Ed Whelan’s great series of posts explained, Liu’s words and actions are riddled with extreme liberal nostrums. For example, asserting his belief in compensating today’s African-Americans for the mistreatment of their slave ancestors, Liu pontificated:

[A]ll of us, whatever our lineage, whatever our ancestry, whatever our complicity, still have a moral duty to . . . make things right. What are we willing to give up to make things right? Because it’s gonna require us to give up something, whether it is the seat at Harvard, the seat at Princeton. Or is it gonna require us to give up our segregated neighborhoods, our segregated schools? Is it gonna require us to give up our money?

The obvious question: what exactly did Liu give up? It wasn’t his seat at Stanford. It wasn’t his seat at Yale Law School. It wasn’t his Rhodes Scholarship. It wasn’t his clerkship with Justice Ginsburg. It wasn’t his professorship at Berkeley. But his worst “offense” is yet to come.

By accepting Brown’s nomination, Liu agreed to replace the only Hispanic on the California Supreme Court. That court also has no African-Americans. It is widely reported that Governor Brown passed over highly qualified Latino candidates, including Thomas Saenz, Christopher David Ruiz Cameron, Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, and Maria Rivera, as well as a veteran African-American appeals court justice, Martin Jenkins.

This has outraged many of the racial bean counters, including Victor Acevedo, president of the Mexican-American Bar Association, who argued the nominee “should have been a Latino and somebody who was native to Southern California.” The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials also criticized the nomination, saying, “[i]t is a grave oversight for the Supreme Court not to reflect the full diversity of our state . . . Justice is best served when the perspectives of all Californians are represented.” Even more irritating to the supposed “diversity” crowd, Liu would become the fourth Asian-American on the court of seven justices, transforming it into the first Asian-dominated state supreme court in the nation, outside Hawaii.

To add irony to insult, readers should recall Liu’s criticism of Chief Justice Roberts’ appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2005 article in which he scolded President Bush for not choosing a “consensus candidate.” As one of the most controversial nominees, to both conservatives and liberals, Liu is hardly a “consensus candidate” himself.

Finally, Californians should retain little confidence in Governor Brown’s appointments to the state supreme court. As The Wall Street Journal notes, “[d]uring his previous stints as governor . . . Mr. Brown’s track record on judicial appointments was notoriously problematic.” In fact, California citizens removed three of seven Brown-appointed justices via retention elections, including Chief Justice Rose Bird. Since then, no California justices have been recalled. Of course, that could change.

The Commission on Judicial Appointments will meet on August 31 to consider Liu’s appointment, and it is expected to approve the nomination. If confirmed, California voters will have their opportunity to recall Liu via retention election in 2014.

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Love the title!!
Can we get over our ethnicity and appreciate all people with inner strength and positive American principle regardless of ethnicity or skin color? If Liu wants to make things right in his life, he can on his own time like the rest of us do that rise above…

he's in what I call a total American degradation of man "protected class," what more does he want?

Great article. Brooks highlights the hypocrisy of the left with background and fact. His revelation of how the "progressives" love to pontificate until it affects them personally is right on the money.

Nice work Brooks.
As a "Vote with my feet" ex-resident of California; I am broken-hearted to see what liberal politics have done to one of the Greatest Places to Live in the World!
Governor Deukmejian sent REFUND CHECKS to Ca. taxpayers in the mid '80s.That was right after "Moonbeam 1" almost killed the California Economy… the first time.
Not only is that the Truth it also exemplifies what can be done when Government Gets Out of the Way.

We have seen this movie before, "The Night of the Living (Brain) Dead." Moonbeam Brown was the worst governor we ever had in his earlier 8-year reign of madness, and he is proving he has not changed. Once a doofus, always a doofus.

Typical liberal hypocrisy. The same folks that are complaining about Gov. Walker in Wisconsin limiting union collective bargaining rights are the same folks that buy Honda and Toyota vehicles (non-Union automakers). Do as I say, not as I do . . . .

This is likeyl one of those sites where liberal viewpoints aren't permitted….You only want Fox News viewers and NY Post readers….

Goodwin Liu was every bit as qualified as Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor, Priscialla Owen….Oh, i forgot, Liu doenst belong to the Federalist Society, so that's why he was filibustered….

And don't bring up Miguel Estrada, Carolyn Kuhl, etc…THAT was payback for GOP obstruction of Clinton's nominees…I'm sure democrats will be aching to payback republicans for their actions on Liu and others (DuMont, Six, Nourse)…

In part 1 of "The Gospel of APA", we discussed the hypocrisy of many within the Asian-American community in general, and that of NAPABA in particular in their constant and ugly push for the selection of Asian-American as judges — either state or federal — to the detriment of more qualified individuals who are otherwise not Asian-American.

The rationale behind the ugly push is diversity, and as we demonstrated — is a one way street.

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